“Because it was mine, and it was taken from me.”
“If you know who took it, then go and get it.”
“You don’t understand. I can’t just go and get it. I…” Davel looked down and avoided his eyes.
“You aren’t as powerful as the person who took it,” Gavin said. “That’s what you’re trying to say?”
Which meant that whoever took it had a considerable magical connection. From the way the El’aras dagger was glowing, Gavin suspected that Davel had considerable power too.
“Something like that.”
“Who took it?”
Davel met Gavin’s gaze. “An enchantress by the name of Zella.”
Enchantress?
“What does she look like?” Gavin asked.
“Powerful. Older. She’s been in the city for decades. And hides her presence.”
“You know that magic is forbidden within Yoran.”
“It might be forbidden, but there are people still practicing. Most of them are like me.”
Gavin glanced toward the door briefly before turning his attention back to Davel. “You weren’t trying to have them slow me at all. You were testing me.” He frowned. “Did the man have an enchantment?”
“He did.”
“What was it?”
“It gave him swiftness.”
Gavin grunted. “He didn’t seem all that swift to me.”
“Which is why you’re the right person for this job. I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t know whether I could even believe the rumors about you. I have to think that the way you were able to take them both down so easily…”
Gavin reached into his pocket, and Davel stiffened. He held out the scrap of paper. “This was you, I presume?”
He smiled. “I had to know you were coming this way.”
“I see.” At least Davel was prepared, if nothing else. “You need to tell me everything you can about this jade egg.”
“It’s small. It has a faint greenish glow to it. And you will find it within a metal box.” He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over to Gavin. On the paper was a drawing of the egg and the box.
“So you want me to find the box, and inside the box will be the egg.”
Finding magic in Yoran wasn’t necessarily an easy task, and this might be even more difficult than he thought. Gavin had been involved with magic more often than he would’ve preferred since coming to Yoran, which was surprising given its status in the city.
After all, the punishment for using magic was so severe.
“I need some idea about how to find this Zella.”
“I can’t help you,” Davel said.
“Because you don’t know where to find her?”
“Zella, like so many of the other enchanters, has disappeared. Gone underground. There was a time when they worked more openly, but no one does these days. They can’t risk it.”
Gavin wasn’t sure if there was going to be any way for him to find the information he wanted about Zella, but if nothing else, he suspected that completing this job would be worth a fair amount of money.
“What are you prepared to offer?” he asked.
“I thought I would see what you thought the job was worth.”
Gavin smiled. “I’m sure you did. I’m curious what you were prepared to offer.”
When it came to targets and hits, the kinds of jobs he’d fallen into lately, they paid because of the value of the target. Gavin had not hesitated to charge a premium for such tasks. Killing somebody was bloody work—and dangerous. In this case, he wasn’t at all sure what he should be charging. He most definitely didn’t want to undervalue his services.
“I could pay twenty gold crowns.”
Gavin tried to keep his face neutral. Twenty gold was more than he would’ve proposed. Even more reason for him to have let Davel make the first offer.
But it also put him on edge.
If Davel was willing to offer twenty gold crowns, it suggested that whatever he wanted from Gavin was far more dangerous than what he was letting on.
“Thirty.”
“Thirty? You do realize that twenty gold crowns is—”
“You’re asking me to find a magical enchantress in a city where magic has been forbidden. You’re asking me to find a magical item that’s considerably powerful.” He hesitated, unsure if that last part was true. “And it’s going to take significant assets on my part to find it.” Gavin forced a smile. “So, thirty gold crowns.”
“I suppose I could come up with the difference,” Davel said.
“I require half up front.”
“Half? I can give you a third.”
Which meant he had only ten gold crowns. And he’d banked on the idea of getting the rest. He must’ve known that Gavin was going to ask for half up front.
Gavin debated whether or not to push, but he wasn’t sure if he should in this case. Even if he didn’t complete the job, he would take the money. Not that he would tell Davel that.
“Fine, we’ll start with ten. When I find Zella’s location, I’ll send word, and you’ll provide an additional ten. When the job is completed, I’ll require the final ten.”
Davel took a deep breath, and then he nodded. “I can agree to those terms.”
“Good. Now about that tea.”
* * *
When he got back to the Dragon, Gavin took a seat across from Gaspar. The inside of the tavern was quiet. There were a few occupied tables, which was unusual these days. Several patrons had empty mugs of ale in front of them, and one had a tray of food. Maybe Jessica had decided to start serving others again. It was about time. Thankfully, she hadn’t resumed hiring minstrels. Gavin didn’t know if he’d be able to deal with that. She often chose the worst musicians, almost as if to taunt him.
He handed Gaspar the paper with the drawing of the egg. “Is this your doing?” Gavin asked.
“I think if you knew me better, you would know I’m not much of an artist.”
“Not the drawing. The job.”
Gaspar held his gaze. “What job? You already have a job.”
“So you aren’t responsible for putting out word on the street that I can find things for people?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Why would you?”
Gaspar glared at him. “We’re busy enough as it is. I don’t need to get into some debate with you about whether I’m trying to complicate things. Listen, boy, we need to figure out how to get into the Captain’s fortress and rescue this kid. So what is it?”
“Some sort of magical egg. He called it a jade egg. Said it was stolen by a woman named Zella.” Gavin watched Gaspar, looking for a spark of recognition in his eyes. Gaspar had been in Yoran for a long time. If such a person existed, he would have some idea who they were.
“Am I supposed to know who this Zella is?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
“Listen. If you’re going to keep at this, I think we’re going to have a difficult time.”
“I’m just trying to figure out if you’re playing a different game,” Gavin said.
“None of this is a game, boy. We’re talking about someone’s life. I know that doesn’t matter to you as much as it does to some of us, but it matters to me.”
“Why is that?”
“Why is what? Why is life valuable? If I have to tell you that, then you had a greater failing when you were younger than I’d realized.”
“No, not that. Why do you care so much about me taking this job?”
“It’s not a matter of me caring whether you take this job at all. It’s a matter of you finishing what you’ve agreed to.”
“Seeing as how others decided on my behalf, I’m not so sure I agreed to anything.”
Gaspar scowled at him, and Gavin resisted the urge to smile any more than he already was. Mostly, he was pushing Gaspar. He needed to know whether Gaspar was responsible for the rumors in the city, and from the way he was reacting, Gavin could tell Gaspar had nothing to do with it.
Maybe she wanted to keep him in the city more than she had let on. Now that he’d ruled out Gaspar and doubted it was Wrenlow, he had to question her. He started to get up from the table.
The door to the tavern opened, and Desarra walked in.
Gaspar’s back was to the door. He shot a look at Gavin. “You’re just going to get up and go away?”
“I need to talk to Jessica, and I figure you have your own issues to deal with.”
“What sort of issues…”
Gaspar trailed off as he turned to see where Gavin was looking. He jumped up when he saw Desarra standing at the entrance.
“Who is that?” Wrenlow asked as Gavin walked past him.
“Gaspar’s ex-wife.”
“Oh,” Wrenlow whispered.
Gavin took a seat by Jessica. He grabbed a stack of towels and began to fold them. “I had an interesting experience today.”
“What was that?”
“A note was delivered about a job. I went out to find the meeting point, and I was attacked. It seemed as if the attackers were trying to test me.”
“I suppose that in your line of work, they need to make sure you’re everything they believe you to be.”
“Maybe,” Gavin said, looking over to Jessica. “But the man who ultimately wanted to hire me wanted me to find something.”
“Find something?”
Gavin nodded. “It seems as if he heard rumors that I can be hired to find things in the city. I wonder where a rumor like that started.”
“I don’t know. Yoran can be a strange place. When rumors start, oftentimes they spread and—”
Gavin reach across the table and took Jessica’s hand. “Did you spread that rumor?”
She looked over, meeting his eyes. “Why would I spread a rumor like that? You don’t need my help finding jobs.”
“I don’t, but I wonder if you’re trying to get me to take a different kind of job.”
“Gavin—”
“I understand what you’re trying to do.”
“I’m not trying to do anything.”
“You want me to stay here at the Dragon. With you.” He smiled at her, and Jessica didn’t return it.
She had stopped folding the towels. She rested her hands on the folded ones and looked at him. “I don’t know what you think I might’ve done, but I’m not responsible. If there are rumors about you, then they came from a different source.”
“If you say so,” Gavin said.
“Gavin—”
“I took the job.”
“You did?”
“It’s not going to be easy, but seeing how well it pays, I thought I might need the money later on. Anyway, it involves me trying to dig for information about an enchantress. Zella.”
There was a flicker on her face. Jessica recognized the name.
“Who is she?” he asked.
“I don’t really know. I… I’ve heard the name before, though I don’t know why.”
“The man who hired me had some magical ability. I don’t know if he was a minor sorcerer or if he was only an enchanter, but he made the El’aras dagger light up.”
“You still use that thing?”
“It seems like I need to. Considering everything we’ve gone through, and especially considering everything I’ve gone through, having something that can reveal when magic is used around me is beneficial.”
“So the dagger glowed around him.”
“It did. Which tells me that not only does he have some magical ability, but he has enough to trigger the blade.”
“And he wants you to find this Zella.”
“No. The job wasn’t to find Zella. The job was to find something called the jade egg.”
“Do you think you can?”
Gavin shrugged. “I might be able to. I don’t know. I’ll have Wrenlow look into it, and even if we can’t, it doesn’t really matter.”
“Why not?”
“Because he paid me part up front.”
Jessica leaned forward. “Be careful, Gavin. If you took money from an enchanter or a sorcerer, you need to complete the job.”
“I have plenty of experience with them,” he said. “And I know what I need to do.”
“I just want to make sure you aren’t going to do something foolish.”
Gavin held her gaze before glancing over at Gaspar sitting at the far table. “I don’t think he’s that thrilled that Desarra came here.”
Jessica paused, resting her hands on the table. “I’m surprised she returned to the Dragon.”
“Returned?” Gavin asked, watching Gaspar.
Jessica nodded slowly, tapping her hand on the table. “Back when they were together, she used to spend quite a bit of time here.”
He still didn’t know that much about Gaspar, but Desarra didn’t strike him as the kind of person that would’ve been with the old thief. “What happened between them?”
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know all the details. All I know is that something changed. He doesn’t like to talk about it, and it was before I truly owned the tavern.”
He frowned. “Who owned it before you?”
“My aunt.”
“The tavern has been in your family?”
Jessica smiled. “I lost my parents back in the…” She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. My aunt owned the tavern, and when she died, she gave it to me. I’ve done my best to try to do right by her. In the time that I’ve owned it, I’ve known Gaspar in various roles.”
“You’ve seen him change.”
“I have. He started stealing.”
Gavin laughed. “What do you mean that he started stealing?”
“He wasn’t always a thief, Gavin.”
“What was he before?” He couldn’t imagine Gaspar as anything other than the thief that he was. It seemed fitting for him.
“You don’t know?”
Gavin shook his head. “Gaspar and I don’t have that kind of friendship, if it even is a friendship. He doesn’t talk much about anything. Maybe that’s because he’s just old.”
“He’s always been that way.”
“Old?”
She laughed softly. “You know what I mean.”
“What was he before he became a thief?”
Given his skill, Gavin couldn’t imagine him doing anything else. Whatever he’d done would’ve been part of the underground—the same sort of thing that Gavin did, though he couldn’t imagine Gaspar as an assassin or a killer of any sort. He’d seen Gaspar fight, but the old thief wasn’t much of a fighter. Whatever he had done would be something different.
“He was one of the constables. He was a magic hunter.”
“A what?”
“You didn’t know.”
Gavin shook his head and stared at Gaspar in stunned silence.
Desarra got up and reached toward Gaspar, almost as if she wanted to take his hands, but as had happened at the house, he didn’t move toward her. After a moment, she turned and left the Dragon. Gaspar lingered at the table for a moment, his eyes closed, and he took a deep breath before getting up and heading over to them.
“Gaspar?” Jessica whispered.
“I have what we need,” he said.
“What?” Gavin asked.
“She provided a layout of the Captain’s fortress. Wrenlow can confirm it, but this should be enough.”
Gavin looked at the stack of detailed pages in Gaspar’s hand.
How would Desarra have been able to get that information?
Maybe it was best that he didn’t know.
“As soon as we confirm this, we’ll finish this job,” Gaspar said.
Gavin wanted to say something and to ask a few more questions, but seeing the look on
Gaspar’s face and the troubled expression in his eyes, he realized that would’ve been a terrible idea. It was better to leave him.
Instead, he reached for more towels and continued to fold them. That would help him focus his mind. It wouldn’t be as effective as practicing or fighting, but maybe enough that he wouldn’t have to stare at Gaspar and wonder about the old man. He wouldn’t have to wonder why he left the constables. He wouldn’t have to wonder why he got into thieving. And he wouldn’t have to wonder about his relationship with Desarra—one it seemed that both still wished they had.
Chapter Eight
Gavin stalked along the street, moving under the shadows of night. He held one hand on the dagger, keeping it tucked away and off to his side. So far, there had been no additional movement, nothing that drew his attention, but he knew it was only a matter of time before someone appeared on the street. It was late enough that he’d been able to maneuver for this long without someone else appearing, but eventually, his luck would end.
“I can’t tell that you’re moving,” Wrenlow whispered in his ear.
At least he was whispering. That was a new development for him. Since gaining the new enchantment from Anna, Wrenlow liked to yell in his ear. With the new El’aras enchantment, Gavin had the ability to adjust the volume and no longer had to listen to Wrenlow scream at him.
“I’m still moving,” he replied.
He made the sound as little more than a soft breath of air, trying to call it out against the night. He didn’t want anything or anyone to realize that he was here. Not yet. Eventually, it wouldn’t matter. But for now, secrecy was key.
“If you’re still moving, where are you?”
“Do you have to keep chattering?” Gaspar asked.
Gavin smiled to himself. The old thief was across the street, moving in another set of shadows. He did so far more easily than Gavin did, though every so often, Gavin was able to make out a shimmer of reflection, thanks to the moonlight. When he did, he made certain to let Gaspar know that he’d been seen. So far, Gaspar didn’t seem to care.
“You’re just jealous I’m not talking to you,” Gavin said.
“There’s no jealousy. You two need to stop bickering.”
He grinned again, and he moved forward. At least Gaspar seemed back to his old crotchety self. Ever since Desarra had visited the Dragon, he’d been off. Now that they were making a run at the Captain’s fortress, he needed Gaspar to be focused.
The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3 Page 35